Getting to know Cambodia

Hello everybody!!

So its Sunday, May 17 and lots has happened since my last post. On Friday we were supposed to start teaching, but it was a national holiday in Cambodia so the schools were not in session.
Instead we went to "Psar Toul Tom Poung" (also called the Russian Market) in the morning and the Royal Palace in the afternoon. The Russian Market was amazing! There is so much stuff to look at, talk about sensory overload; everything there is beautiful, handmade, and dirt cheap. I've realized that I am not the best bargainer of the bunch. When I try to bargain they'd shoot back a sad face, saying "no too little," and then Id feel bad and give them the full price, this is something I am working on. But on the bright side, I did get 3 super comfortable t-shirts for 5 dollars. I'm not sure if yall know this, but elephants are my favorite animal. Elephants are very reverred in this culture so they are on everything. At the market there is gorgeous art, beautiful wood carvings and pottery, amazing silk scarfs and so much more! In Cambodia there are a lot of disabled people because there are so many land mines left over from the war that have blown off a limb or burned a face. These disabled people were walking around selling postcards, and small artwork at the market so I bought them out of postcards, needless to say, expect a few postcards from me! I also took some great pictures at the market. It was so colorful and made for a great backdrop. The people are beautiful, their eyes light up when they smile even if they have no material possessions, a burned face or a blown off leg, they always greet you with a smile.

Food here has been absolutely fabulous! Breakfast is an American breakfast, we have a choice of an omelet, fried egg, or scrambled eggs and our choice of juice, a choice of coffee or tea, always toast and jam and fresh fruit!!! Saturday morning we had the freshest, tastiest mango and papaya...YUM!! For lunch and dinner we always have a soup, a traditional Khmer dish (of course always with rice) and a desert with every lunch and dinner! My favorite dessert so far has been these bananas cooked with very finely shredded coconut, sugar and some sort of molasses! It was soooo delicious! The staff here at the Frangipani Villa, where I am staying, are SO sweet, I was joking with them a while ago, they were practicing their English with me, asking me how old I was, what I was studying. They are all between 20 and 23 years old. One of the guys, his name is Seanon, hes my fav so far, when he works at the villa he stays here because he has nowhere else to live. When he is not working here he works at the frangipani villa 90s (there are 2 Frangipani Villas, we are staying in the frangipani 60s) and when he is working at neither he said his friend, who is also a staff member takes him in. But the thing is, I feel like he is happier than I am! Always smiling and always so kind and generous. I haven't been here for long, but the spirit of these people is unbelievable, almost indescribable.

After lunch we toured the Royal Palace, since it was a national holiday, there were lots of festivities going on . The Royal Palace was absolutely majestic, as my roommate Priya so poignantly put it! It was an absolutely beautiful day to take pictures, with the bluest sky and brightest sun! Visiting the Royal Palace is the same concept as going on a tour of the White House, but at the Royal Palace everything is so open, accessible and much more beautiful. The king actually lives there and people were free to romp around the estate, there were beautiful jewels and treasures and no security guards. I think that says something about the Khmer culture. In the states, you have to wait forever to try to get into the whitehouse and there are security gaurds everywhere. It was interesting to compare the two. In the Royal Palace, there are Buddhas and temples and courtyards sprinkled throughout the estate. Children, monks and every other type of person was visiting the Palace. There was this big family who was touring the palace at about the same pace we were and all of the children would pose for pictures holding up peace signs and boast huge smiles! We watched a woman make silk and men play instruments. After the Royal Palace we took a drive down the river front; this was truly something to see. It was definately the nicer part of the city, there were two large grassy areas, boardered by streets, where all sorts of fun activites were going on. Teens kicking the soccer ball around, older men playing bad mitten, young girls chasing balloons, a couple having a picnic, etc. I wanted to jump out and chill in the grassy knoll with the Cambodians!


Here is a picture of two children who were at the Royal Palace following us around. They don't look too happy in the picture, but they were adorable! The child wearing a flower behind his ear is a boy after my own heart, he can really rock that flower! This afternoon we are going to the modern market and then to a traditional Khmer puppet show. The theatre is a silk screen and the pupeteers hold up leather puppets and the audience sees the shadow of the puppets. Can't wait to tell yall about it!

Until next time with lots of Love,
Rosie